F1 Talk: Alexander Albon to stay at Red Bull in 2020; Right Choice?

Alexander Albon’s excellent rookie season has seen him earn a seat at Red Bull next year alongside Max Verstappen.

The Thai driver impressed Helmut Marko and Red Bull to move from Toro Rosso to Red Bull after the summer break.

Toro Rosso have also confirmed that Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat will stay put for 2020.

With Albon’s recent performances, it is no surprise to see him keep the Red Bull seat. He has been slightly better than Gasly overall and his racecraft is what has impressed me the most.

Over one lap, Albon has qualified very close to Verstappen at times, including a brilliant performance in Suzuka where he did exactly the same time as Verstappen.

On average (up until Hungary), Verstappen was on average 0.45 quicker than Gasly. Currently against Albon, Verstappen is 0.41 ahead. So not much in it. However, Hungary happened and Gasly was 0.8 slower than Verstappen which bumped the average to over half a second.

Similarly to Gasly, Albon does not quite have the race pace and consistency to challenge for podiums although his drives through the field have been very good, not least his three-stop strategy last time out in USA.

Gasly’s problem was that he struggled to make bold moves. He was unable to follow a car closely through corners to make a relatively easy overtake on a straight. Just look at Austria for example.

On lap one, he was ahead of Verstappen. Sixty laps later and he’s being lapped by Verstappen because he could not overtake a midfield car.

Albon has learnt how to use his tyres well and where to place the car to not get affected by dirty air as much and used the strengths of the Red Bull to make overtakes and ease through the pack rather than getting held up by a midfield car for a few laps which compromises your race strategy, your tyres and even the mindset of the driver.

To sum things up, Albon deserves the Red Bull seat for next year and equally, Gasly deserves to stay in Formula One because he has been very strong recently and performed significantly better than Kvyat.

However, should Red Bull have chosen Nico Hulkenberg?

If Red Bull is in the title fight next year, they will need a driver who can take points away from their rivals or pick up the occasional win. Someone such as Valtteri Bottas is the perfect example of this.

I don’t think Albon has shown that he is capable of this role. Of course, he is still learning and it is only his first year in F1.

But, he needs to find more consistency and elevate his performances to be the perfect number two driver that Red Bull may desperately need in 2020.

This is why I believe Hulkenberg would have been a great choice for Red Bull. A solid driver who is consistent, someone with experience and a driver that deserves a chance. I would have been brave and gone for a driver outside of the Red Bull programme.

Albon has one more year to prove that he can beat Verstappen a few times a year on merit and to show that he is not the same as Gasly. 2020 is a make or break year for him because if he does not live up to expectation, he may find himself falling to the ever-growing list of Red Bull drivers who have been booted out of F1.